There are several ways to interact on Facebook beyond just having your own personal profile. The two main ways are via a Page (see our guide on how to create a page in Facebook) or as a Group.
A page is usually used by a business, organisation or a public figure. For instance, if you are a fan of a certain singer, group or artist then you might want to create a page with all the things that you really like about them. If you are an artist you might want to create a page for your fans telling them where you will next be doing a show.
A Group is usually created to discuss or share information with people with similar interests. For instance you might want to start a group to organise a school reunion but do not necessarily have all the people you want to invite in your friends list. If you create a group with the name of the school (and sometimes possibly the years you attended) people will find it as they search for things that interest them.
There are three types of Facebook Groups:-
- Closed (which is the default setting). Only the people invited by the group members can join.
- Secret, a group that can only be seen by those belonging to the group. This is often used for members of committees and similar so they can hold online meetings without information becoming public.
- Public, anyone can join the group and start posting.
Step 1: Searching for a page that interests you
In find a Page you firstly need to do a search for either the name of the page or the subject that interests you. There are many pages on Facebook that are set up specifically for geographical areas and are often for buying and selling locally (a little like an online car boot sale) or for photographs or local events.
To search firstly open your profile and then type in the box at the top of your page.
A list containing the search word or words with suggestions will appear.
Step 2: Joining a page
Click on the one that you would like to join (in this case Digital Unite) and a page will open showing more details of the organisation. If you want to be kept up-to-date with posts on the page click on the Like button and these will then appear in your news feed whenever there is something new.
If you do a search and a group comes up it could be a Closed Group in which case you will need to ask to join and then wait for the administrator to confirm that you have been accepted. Please remember that many groups are set up by people as a hobby or special interest and therefore they may not be looking at it on a regular basis and you may wait for a little while before you hear back.
Some Public Groups also need you to ask to join.
Once you have clicked on the Join button you should get an acknowledgement to confirm that your join request has been sent.
Once your request has been accepted you will receive a notification at the top of your profile page.
Clicking on this will give a message similar to the one below.
Step 3: Public Groups
Remember in a Public Group anyone can see what you post, that you are a member of this group and any comments you make.
You can join as many groups as you want and they are great ways to make new friends, share information or even just ask questions of people with similar interests.
We hope that this guide has helped you to follow people or join a group on Facebook. Why not check out our other Facebook guides in the Next Steps links below?